"SANTA CRUZ - For years, the San Lorenzo River mouth surf break in Santa Cruz has been celebrated by local surfers and history buffs as the location where surfing was first introduced to the continental United States more than a century ago. On Friday, state authorities stepped in to make that recognition official. The California Historical Resource Commission unanimously agreed to designate the Three Princes' Surf Site at the San Lorenzo River mouth as a California Historical Landmark. The application process was spearheaded by California State Parks but came after at least a decade of advocacy work among local community members and surfers."
"The point of coastal confluence, sandwiched between the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and a bluff that juts out into the water from East Cliff Drive, is where teenage Hawaiian princes David Kawānanakoa, Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole and Edward Keliʻiahonui paddled out to glide among the waves in the summer of 1885 during a break from their schooling at Saint Matthew's Hall, an episcopal military academy in San Mateo."
""The Santa Cruz Daily Surf reported on July 20, 1885, that with an audience of thirty or forty swimmers, the princes surfed the San Lorenzo Rivermouth break and put on an exciting exhibition," State Parks wrote in the application. "This event is noted as the first-time surfing was observed and doc"
The California Historical Resource Commission unanimously designated the Three Princes' Surf Site at the San Lorenzo River mouth as a California Historical Landmark. California State Parks led the application after a decade of advocacy by local community members and surfers. State Parks Santa Cruz District Superintendent Chris Spohrer contacted the state's Office of Historic Preservation to seek guidance on creating and installing a commemorative plaque and plans to work with community partners to implement it. The site marks where teenage Hawaiian princes David Kawānanakoa, Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole and Edward Keliʻiahonui surfed in the summer of 1885 during a break from schooling at Saint Matthew's Hall. Contemporary coverage described an audience and an exciting exhibition.
Read at The Mercury News
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